The present invention relates to the storage devices for hats and, in particular, a storage unit for storing and fashioning the brims of baseball-type hats.
Soft-cap, hard-brim hats or caps are widely used for a variety of sporting and leisure activities. In addition to providing protection against adverse weather elements, the caps provide identification for sporting teams, businesses, fashion lines, noted events and other pursuits wherein utilitarian, promotional and fashion statements are connoted with the wearing and collecting of such articles.
Such hats are typified by a stitched, multi-panel cap of a flexible fabric material conforming to the head of the wearer, and a forwardly projecting pointed brim formed of a cloth covered, limitedly flexible material. As purchased, the brims of such hats are generally planar and assume varying curvatures depending on the physical characteristics of the wearer. In an effort to enhance the perceived appearance of the hat or to personalize the wearing thereof, many hat owners have undertaken to manually reshape the hat brims to their individual desires. This reshaping is generally accomplished by gradually manually manipulating the brim until the desired curvature is attained. While oftentimes successful, the manual shaping is tedious and subjects the brim to accelerated wear. Moreover, frequent restyling is necessary, following washing or use for example, inasmuch as the brim tends to return to its manufactured condition.
In an effort to overcome the rigors of manually forming the brim, a number of approaches have been suggested in the prior art. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,522 to Cho it was proposed to incorporate into the original manufacture of the cap a steaming and heat drying process to preform the brim to an increased curvature. This thermal forming process was suited for materials not typical of the various commercially available cap designs. Moreover, the preformed curvature is altered under normal wearing conditions. Further, the curvature was preset thereby limiting the general appeal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,465 to Beradis discloses a hat rack having a plurality of double sided, curved brim molds. The hat brims are inserted into mold slots for forming. The device does not account for different brim thickness and exposes the brim to excessive wear. A similar approach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,927 to Barbaccia wherein the bill is inserted into a single, free standing, double sided shaping device. U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,073 to LaManna discloses a wall or door mounted double sided clip for holding and displaying unformed hats.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D 368,806 to Sparaco discloses a hat bill cupping device using a strap for curving the brim of a hat. The strap spans only a portion of the brim and accordingly may not produce uniform results over the entire brim.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,779 to Atkins discloses a hat holder wherein hat brims are supported within apertures in a projecting shelf. The brims are rolled into overlapping relation prior to insertion at the shelf. Only a narrow portion of the brim is restrained. The resulting cap brim may be excessively rolled for the wearer"" desires and formed only in the narrow regions of the shelf. A further holder for conventionally formed hat brims is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,694 to Larson wherein the hat brims are flexibly retained in a vertical and circumferential array of elongated slots.
Based on the foregoing limitations it would be desirable to provide a unit for storing, displaying and fashioning the brims of baseball type caps that will allow the wearer to establish a desired uniform curvature to the brim without destruction or undue wear to the brim, and in a manner that maintains the desired curvature during subsequent wearing.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a hat rack for holding, displaying and providing curvature to hard brimmed hats.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method for distinctively forming the brim of a baseball type hat in a convenient, non-destructive manner.
A further object of the invention is to provide a hat storage rack wherein a plurality of hats may be conveniently stored while undergoing shaping of the brim to a desired curvature.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a baseball hat storage rack that may be conveniently mounted on a visible, accessible surface for storing and displaying a number of hats in a manner that safely imparts and maintains a desired contour for the hat brims.
The present invention accomplishes the above and other objectives by providing a storage rack having a plurality of elongated tubular sleeves for housing and supporting only the outer surface of the brim in a manner that fashions the hat by gradually imparting a permanent curvature to the brim. The sleeves are carried on a mounting base that may be attached to convenient mounting surfaces such as walls, door closets and the like enabling convenient display, storage and access to the hats. The curvature is effected by gradually relaxing the brim into conformity with the inner cylindrical surface of the sleeve through controlled engagement with a substantial portion of the brim thereby imparting a fill curvature thereto. This relaxation imparts a permanent set to the brim overcoming the memory tendency of the brim material to return to the original manufactured shape. After attaining the desired shape, the contour remains notwithstanding use or storage in other locations. There is accordingly provided an effective storage and brim fashioning rack for hard billed hat brims.